Where do I start? My wedding day/week was perfect. We arrived on Monday and got married on Thursday. I enjoyed getting there a day before everyone else so we could get settled in. We had the Welcome Party at the Eden Pool on Tuesday. I'm so glad we did this! All the guests were able to meet each other and we were able to see almost everyone!
We had our rehearsal at 5pm on Wednesday and rehearsal dinner at Toro. It was so yummy! They set tables up all together in a semi-private area, which was perfect.
On the wedding day, we brunched at Ciao (made a reservation a few weeks before) with the bridesmaids and mothers. I had my makeup done in my room with one of the resort's stylists! She was amazing. I'm glad I did a trial run the day before because we had to tweak a few things. For the ceremony, I didn't use a package but pretty much picked everything out myself. The ceremony was on Isla Beach. I loved how there weren't beach chairs near the ceremony area.
The reception was a blast! It was on Element Terrace and couldn't have been more perfect! It started raining but we moved all the tables under the covering and continued to party! I am so happy we did the Fire Show as the finale! Our guests LOVED it! And we did too!!
Things I am so glad I did:
1. We hired an off resort photographer, Photosouvenir SeverineandRenaud. Photos and videography are huge for me. It's what you have left after it's all over! We haven't received all our photos, just "sneak peeks". What we have received blew me (& everyone else who saw them) away! It did cost more to bring them in but it was worth it.
2. We rented two golf carts for the day of. This was awesome to have to run errands during the day. Also, the bridal party used them to get to the wedding ceremony. Since the resort is so big, these were great to have.
3. I created "wedding day duties" for each bridal party member so I didn't have to worry about anything the day of. I can email this list and other lists I made that were helpful!
4. I sent out an itinerary to each guest before the trip so they knew which pool we were at everyday. This helped with people not blowing up our phones asking where we were all week! (The Central Pool was the most fun to us!)
5. The Welcome Party really set the tone for the week!
6. We gave drink tumblers as our welcome gift and everyone loved (and used) them!
7. I asked resort a few weeks before the trip to put all your guests in the same building/area. Preferably 4A, 4B, 2A or 2B.
8. The day after shoot in the natural spring was a blast! The pictures are breathtaking and we had so much fun!!
Things I would change:
1. Speeches (Father of the Bride, MOH and BM) at the rehearsal dinner and not reception. It took time away from the dance/party time during the reception.
2. Leave the resort for our honeymoon. We stayed at the resort because we thought the resort was big enough so we wouldn't really see anyone ... But we did.
Please let me know if I can help in anyway! I do event planning for a living so I have many more things I can share that I left out!
We could not have chosen a better resort to get married! It is an amazing place. All of our guests were blown away!